Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

GUSA Looks To Implement Web Ballots

By Dave Heaton Hoya Staff Writer

GUSA considered a proposal Monday night that, if approved, will allow students to vote online for the executive elections for president and vice president. The new procedure, which will be implemented for the Feb. 28 elections, will replace the old system in which election booths were set up in New South and in Red Square.

The proposal, being spearheaded by the Saxa Server Club, calls for the executive elections to be conducted in a secure manner via their Web site, in a procedure similar to registration on Student Access. Using an encoded password, students will be able to logon to saxa.georgetown.edu to cast their ballots.

Saxa Server, a student run organization that seeks to provide Georgetown students with the experience to manage a Web site, officially received university approval late last semester.

Dominique Burzacchi (MSB ’00), a senior class representative for GUSA who is also the public relations coordinator for Saxa Server, said, “It will be easier and more convenient because there won’t be any lines. Many other schools have already done it, so [Saxa President Pablo Liska (MSB ’00)] went ahead and designed the software.”

According to Burzacchi, statistics have shown that online elections for student government have resulted in higher voter turnout at other schools.

“One of the major benefits of online voting is that it opens the door for students abroad for their junior year to vote,” said Election Commissioner Kerry Tyman (COL ’00).

Despite enthusiasm, security questions remain. According to Saxa Servers’s Web site, two separate security features have been implemented to ensure that each student can cast only one vote. One procedure will mark students in the database with a special flag once they have voted. In addition, an encryption code will be used to secure each ballot cast. According to Liska, University Information Services has looked at the code and made recommendations to improve security.

According to Saxa Server’s Web site, in the case of voter fraud, “It would be a simple matter to locate the computer from which fraudulent votes were registered. Also, it would not be hard to remove fraudulent votes and allow the real voter to vote.” In addition, Tyman said that one of the election commissioners will specifically be in charge of monitoring the activity on the Web site.

This comes as the second change to the voting procedures since the last elections. On Nov. 28, 1999, former Election Commissioner Jackie Shapiro (COL ’99) and Tyman presented a new set of election bylaws that was approved by the assembly.

Part of that proposal will allow candidates to present a list of names identified as “core staff members,” all of whom will be able to communicate among themselves by e-mail. Formerly, any candidate found to use e-mail as part of their campaign received a fine, because, according to Shapiro, it constituted written material. According to the GUSA constitution, the election commissioner must approve all written material prior to distribution, including candidates’ Web sites.

Also included in that proposal is a ban on fliers in areas not specifically outlined in the GUSA constitution, including Lauinger Library and the walls of freshmen dorms. “This needed to be done,” said Sophomore Class Representative Aaron Polkey (COL ’02) of the plan to limit the number of fliers each candidate can post to 500.

Assembly members will vote next Sunday whether to adopt the plan, following a trial run to be conducted by GUSA members this week.

Elections for class representatives to the GUSA assembly are scheduled to be held on Apr. 5.

Notes: Also at the meeting, Bill Jarvis (MSB ’02) and Grant Rusin (MSB ’02), leaders of the Club Union plan, proposed an amendment to the GUSA constitution officially calling on a new body, now to be called a “Club Alliance.” After much debate, the motion was tabled until the meeting for the following week . During the Executive Report, GUSA President Ron Palmese (MSB ’00) said that students can submit pictures to GUSA for display on the new projector in Hoya Court . The Community Action Coalition is looking for a community service chair from all clubs and organizations, including GUSA, Palmese said . Polkey announced that students interested in drafting a proposal to the board of directors for a student representative on the committee could meet in the GUSA office on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 4:00 p.m. in the GUSA office . Additionally, Veronica Lerma (SFS ’01) was appointed to the Student Activities Commission to fill a vacancy. Lerma had previously served as a commissioner her sophomore year, but was unable to serve first semester because she was studying abroad.

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